Greater Bemidji’s 218 Relocate program recently expanded. This update aims to not only help recruit new talent to the greater Bemidji area, but also to retain it.

Through expansions to older plans like the Telecommuter Relocation program and the introduction of the New Resident Relocation program, this second phase to 218 Relocate is a step toward fighting the nationwide worker shortage on a local scale.

It’s something that is affecting employers nationwide and is what local governments are hoping to combat: the worker shortage. Making headlines primarily at the heights of the pandemic when employers moved from the conference room to a Zoom call, businesses big and small are now looking for a way to not only bring talent to their area, but keep it there.

While the worker shortage has become somewhat synonymous with the COVID-19 pandemic, those in economic development say signs of this problem started almost a decade prior to the global shutdown. Greater Bemidji is taking steps to fix things in Bemidji through the latest update to 218 Relocate: the New Resident Relocation program.

Minnesota’s employment rate is projected to rise. A solution toward maintaining this rise of talent that Greater Bemidji implemented into this latest expansion is by introducing the community to new recruits.

Greater Bemidji is working toward making the Community Concierge program an authentic experience to new workers. Because of this choice, they are moving away from a “pay to move here” model and towards the main goal of the New Resident Relocation program, having people be a part of a community.

More information about the 218 Relocate program can be found here.

By — Mary Balstad